Electrophysiological evidence for flexible adjustments in cognitive control depending on feedback's contingency
Jintao Xing1, Gilles Pourtois2, Qian Yang3
1Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China; Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Biological Psychology
|May 30, 2025
Summary
Motivational feedback shapes cognitive control by altering brain responses. Reinforcing conflict or no-conflict trials differently impacts brain activity, showing how learning and motivation modulate conflict resolution.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Cognitive control, the ability to detect and resolve conflict, is influenced by learning and motivation.
- Feedback contingency and motivational value impact cognitive control's behavioral manifestations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the brain mechanisms underlying the modulation of cognitive control by feedback.
- To examine how selective reinforcement of congruent or incongruent trials affects cognitive control.
Main Methods:
- Fifty-eight participants completed a modified Stroop task with block-level feedback.
- Feedback signaled either congruent (no-conflict) or incongruent (conflict) trials, with negative or neutral valence.
- Electroencephalography (EEG) recorded brain activity, including event-related potentials (ERPs) and frontal alpha/theta oscillations.
Main Results:
- Behaviorally, reinforcing congruent trials improved conflict adaptation, while reinforcing incongruent trials reduced the congruency effect.
- EEG revealed distinct neural patterns: stimulus-locked ERPs (N450, P1) changed when incongruent trials were reinforced.
- Feedback-locked P3 component was altered when congruent trials were reinforced; mid-frontal theta increased with conflict and feedback.
Conclusions:
- The brain utilizes different processes (stimulus-locked vs. feedback-locked) to implement cognitive control based on feedback contingencies.
- Motivational factors and learning significantly shape the neural implementation of conflict resolution.
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